Brotherly Love
by The Little Monster 1024
Summary: Ricky comes home early for Thanksgiving. He and his new little brother team up to drive their mother crazy.
1. Monday

**Brotherly Love**

 **AN** : Once again, thank you to the lovely DaughterOfAres for the prompt

* * *

 **Chapter One:**

 ** _Monday_**

"What are you doing here so soon?" Rusty said, smiling as he helped Ricky carry his bags into the condo. Ricky was coming home for Thanksgiving break this year. But he wasn't due until Wednesday, but here Rusty was helping him carry his _insane_ amount of bags in Monday afternoon.

"Finished some finals early and skipped some others because of my grades. I decided to come home a couple days early to spend some time with mom." Ricky told him as they sat his bags down next to the couch.

Rusty had offered Ricky to take his room, but Ricky refused, saying he'd just take the couch. Rusty shrugged it off. At least he'd offered. Ricky would be begging for his room after one night on that uncomfortable couch.

Rusty sat down on the couch as Ricky sat in the chair. "Hate to break it to you, but Sharon's in the middle of a case. We'll probably be lucky if she's home at all tonight."

Ricky nodded a little. "Right."

They fell into a conversation, talking about school and catching up on each other's lives. They texted sometimes but they didn't really talk much about themselves. It was usually talking about computers or making fun of Emily's latest facebook status. It was nice to just sit and talk about their lives.

As their conversation ended, however, they fell into silence, neither really knowing what to do.

"A lot of nights like these?" Ricky asked him.

Rusty shrugged. "Yeah, if I'm not at the station or studying or something like that."

Ricky nodded. "Had a lot of nights like these when I still lived at home. "I love mom and I know she loves her job but it can make for some pretty boring nights."

Rusty nodded in agreement. "What did you do for fun?"

He shrugged. "Went out with friends, sometimes. Other times I just sat around here and messed with mom." Ricky smiled at that and Rusty couldn't help but think how mischievous he looked.

"Messed with her? How?"

"I'll show you."

A couple minutes later, Rusty found himself standing on a stool, reaching up to make sure he had cleared all of Sharon's wine glasses from the cabinet. Once they were all cleared out, Ricky handed him stacks of plates to take the places of the glasses.

"How is this really messing with her?" Rusty asked, carefully sitting the plates down.

"Mom's crazy about organization, especially in the kitchen."

Rusty smiled a little at that. He knew that. One time he put a glass into the wrong cabinet and he had to listen to her tell him about the importance of organization for like a half hour. She could've just shown him where the glass went.

"Yeah, really crazy."

* * *

Sharon smiled at the sight of Ricky's car. He was early! He wasn't supposed to be in LA until Wednesday. She was so happy that she was going to have both of her boys home and with her for Thanksgiving; she only wished Emily could make it home.

She understood. With work and rehearsal, there's no way her daughter could make it home. She only hoped she'd be able to make it home for even just a day or two for Christmas.

She made her way to her door, excited to hug her son, excited to see him. She had her key ready when she made it to the door. She turned the key and pushed the door open, smiling at the sight of her boys turning from their seats on the couch to look at her.

"Ricky!" She smiled, kicking her heels off and sitting her bag down.

Ricky stood and made his way toward her, hugging her back when she excitedly wrapped him up in her arms.

Rusty smiled, watching from his spot on the couch. He liked seeing Sharon so happy, and she was her happiest when her kids visited her.

"I didn't know you were coming so early!" She said, smiling brightly as she pulled back to look up at her son. God, she had to look _up_ at him. When did they grow up?

Ricky shrugged, unable to stop his own smile. "Finished some stuff early and thought I'd come spend some time with you and the little brother."

"I'm so sorry that I didn't make it home for dinner." She said, slipping out of her blazer and grabbing her sweater from one of the hooks. She pulled the sweater on, still smiling brightly.

"Don't worry about it," Ricky said, sitting back following his mother toward the kitchen. Rusty stood and followed too, leaning against the counter. "we ordered pizza. "

Sharon nodded a little, opening the refrigerator and pulling out the half empty bottle of her favorite white wine. She sat the bottle down on the cabinet and opened up the cabinet that usually held her wine glasses. When she was met with the sight of stacked plates, she froze, confused.

"What's wrong, mom?" Ricky asked, keeping his voice even.

She glanced back at him. "Oh, nothing, honey, I just thought…" She stepped back, turning back to the cabinet.

Rusty covered his mouth with his hand, trying his best to not laugh and ruin the whole thing. He watched her open the cabinet next to the opened one. It was filled with bowls and smaller plates. The next one over normally held her plates, but was not filled with her wine glasses. She didn't open it, though.

She turned to look at Rusty just as he moved his hand, trying to keep his cool. "I could've sworn my wine glasses were in this cabinet." She said, pointing to it. "Did you move them?"

"Yeah, Sharon, I blew off class to hide your wine glasses from you. You caught me."

She waved him off, turning back to her cabinets. She opened the next one, finding her wine glasses. "Hm." She grabbed a glass, shaking her head as she sat it on the cabinet.

"Getting crazy in your old age?" Ricky teased.

Sharon gasped at him, a laugh escaping as she hit his shoulder. "Don't talk to your mother that way!"

Rusty and Ricky laughed, exchanging a sideways glance when their mother's focus was on pouring her wine.

Sharon smiled to herself, listening to the sound of her boys laughing at her expense.

* * *

 **Thoughts?**


	2. Tuesday

**Brotherly Love**

 **AN:** Thanks so much for the support I received for the last chapter. I'm just blown away by everyone's kind words. The reviews are so thoughtful; you guys mention lines or certain parts that you really liked and I very much enjoy reading them. They really make this writing even more fun for me than it already is.

So, with that being said, chapter two…

* * *

 ** _Tuesday_**

"This is a horrible idea." Rusty whispered.

Ricky had snuck into his room ten minutes after midnight with a 'brilliant' idea to mess with Sharon. Rusty was pretty sure it was going too far. Not only would they never get away with it, it would really mess with her. Like, more than he intended to.

"No, It's not." Ricky whispered back. "Emily and I used to sneak in and do this to her alarm clock all the time."

"Really? Emily did that?"

"Okay, well…no. But it was her idea. She claims it was just a joke," He shrugged. "But it worked."

Rusty shook his head. "There's no way we can sneak into Sharon's room and get her phone without her knowing."

"You have no faith, little brother." He smiled. "Shut up and listen to the plan."

* * *

And, that's how, just ten minutes later Rusty was crawling through Sharon's bedroom on his hands and knees. It was Ricky's stupid idea, why wasn't he the one on the ground?

 _Because you're smaller, Rusty._ Ricky had said.

They had to be absolutely silent. Sharon wasn't necessarily a light sleeper, she always slept through storms and stuff like that, but one creek of a floorboard and she was wide awake. As he approached her nightstand, he saw her shift in her sleep.

Rusty froze and held his breath. Sharon turned over off of her back and onto her side, still asleep. Rusty let out a breath in relief. He stood on his knees and retrieved her phone from the table. He unplugged it from the charger, laying the cord back down silently. He stuffed the phone into his pocket and turned to crawl back to the hallway.

Once he was safely out of Sharon's room, Ricky pulled his mother's door closed all but a crack and led Rusty back into his room.

Rusty pulled Sharon's phone from his pocket and handed it to Ricky. "Okay, what next, genius? It's password protected."

"I'm sure we can figure out mom's password." He said, clicking the button at the top, making her phone light up. He looked at Rusty. "Suggestions?"

Rusty shrugged. "Her birthday?"

Ricky typed the numbers in and shook his head. "Nope. I'll try the year instead." He typed those numbers in too, sighing when they didn't work.

"Try Emily's birthday." When Ricky shook his head after the phone vibrated signaling an incorrect password, Rusty offered another suggestion. "Your birthday?"

Ricky typed that in too, receiving the same vibration. "One last try before we're locked out. I'll try yours."

"If she didn't use yours or Emily's birthday she's not going to use mine."

Ricky ignored him, typing in Rusty's birthday. To their surprise, the phone unlocked, revealing Sharon's background, a picture of herself and her three kids. "Huh," Ricky said, shaking his head. "Insulting."

* * *

"Why are you changing her phone background?"

Ricky shrugged, smiling as he downloaded the image. He went through and set the image as her wallpaper, making sure to save the previous picture she had had as her wallpaper.

Rusty watched Ricky's actions on the phone. "Why are you changing it to that creepy looking clown?" He asked.

The older boy chuckled a little. "Mom hates clowns. Well, any horror movie, really. But if you ask enough, you could get her to watch one with you." Ricky looked at him. "I mean, with you being her favorite and everything, she'd watch it."

Rusty smiled a little. "Oh, shut up. I'm not her favorite."

Ricky nodded. "You're right. It's Emily."

"After all of this? Definitely Emily."

* * *

Rusty shook his head. Sharon was going to kill them. Changing her background was one thing, but now Ricky was messing with her alarms. He set them all to go off five minutes later. Five minutes might not seem like much, but to their mother, who thrived on organization and routine, it would drive her crazy.

Waking at 6:05 a.m. instead of 6:00 would throw her off a bit, but still wouldn't make her late for work.

"She texts Lieutenant Flynn a lot. Or, _Andy_ , as he's called in her phone now." Ricky said. "Look at this, there's 112 messages between them."

"Ew, no." Rusty said, pushing the phone away. "I don't want to see the stuff they're sending to each other."

Ricky rolled his eyes. "They're not sexting, Rusty." He said, not even able to contain his own grimace at the thought. "It's just boring stuff. Oh, look, Flynn sent her a kissy face emoji."

Rusty laughed a little. "I'm so telling Provenza."

* * *

Rusty was woken up by a loud knocking on his door. A loud bang might be a better word. It made him jump, almost falling out of bed. He rubbed his eyes and looked over at his alarm clock.

He couldn't help but laugh.

It was 6:06.

"I can hear you laughing, young man, and it _isn't_ funny." Sharon practically yelled as she pushed his door open. He could hear Ricky laughing from his spot on the couch. Sharon turned around to yell at her older son. "You're next, Richard."

Rusty only laughed harder, causing Sharon to glare at him. "I don't know how you did it, but just wait, Rusty. You think Ricky's funny? Who do you think he gets all of this from?"

Rusty's draw dropped a little. Was she threatening him?

"I'd go back to sleep, honey." She said, her voice calm all of a sudden. "Because if I were you I wouldn't do much sleeping tonight."

With that, she shut his bedroom door, leaving him speechless and a little terrified.

* * *

 **Thanks again for your feedback on the previous chapter guys!**


	3. Wednesday

**Brotherly Love**

 **AN** : Thank you guys for the support!

Also, disregard the fact that I said Ricky was still in college in the first chapter. I don't know what I was thinking lol.

* * *

 ** _Wednesday_**

Rusty had been surprised when Sharon walked in the door a few minutes past five p.m. saying that they'd closed the case early. She was in a far better mood than she had been that morning. She was all smiles, offering to take them to dinner.

Ricky and Rusty were on their guard, however, waiting for their mother to strike her revenge. Their mother was a patient woman and they were sure she could attack at any moment. They also knew their mother had an impeccable poker face, a benefit of being a cop, they were sure.

But, by the time they ate their burgers and Sharon had stopped to get them all frozen yogurt, they were letting their guard down. Maybe she had thought about it and decided to let the harmless prank go.

As they walked in the door, Sharon sat her purse aside and slipped out of her heels, pulling her boots on afterward. The boys hung up their coats and walked further into the living room, taking their regular spots on either end of the couch.

Sharon smiled a little to herself. "Do you guys want to watch a movie?"

They both turned to look at her. "Sure." Rusty said. "Which movie?"

Sharon bent down to grab the DVD from her purse and held it up or them to see.

" _Texas Chainsaw Massacre_?" Ricky asked. "Mom, you hate horror movies."

Sharon rolled her eyes a little. "Oh, I know. But I read about this one and the story behind it was interesting." She handed Ricky the DVD. "You put the movie in, I'll make the popcorn."

As their mother disappeared happily into the kitchen, the brothers exchanged a look in confusion. Ricky shrugged and stood, popping the DVD into the player and sitting back down.

A few minutes later, Sharon walked back into the room, flicking the lights off and settling into the middle of the couch, between her two sons. "I know you guys like these kinds of movies. So, I think I can deal with a horror movie to spend some time with my boys." She said, resting her hand on Ricky's knee and smiling at Rusty.

About an hour later, they were all settled into the couch, hunching under blankets as their eyes were set on the screen.

The scene in the movie was eerily quiet; Rusty could feel his heartbeat in his ears as he waited for something to happen. He glanced over at Ricky to see him holding up about the same way he was, Sharon was focused on the screen, her face expressionless as if she was watching a suspect from the electronics room.

As the music in the movie sped up, signaling the imminent return of the killer, Rusty heard a loud crash come from behind; he jumped, along with the other two on the couch. He looked behind them to see a large man in a mask standing in the doorway. He was holding a chainsaw!

"Sharon!" Rusty yelled, grabbing her arm as he heard Ricky scream.

* * *

Sharon was finding it incredibly difficult to not laugh as she felt her two grown sons each cling to her arm. She turned her head to look back as the lights were turned on and Andy pulled the mask away from his face.

At the sight of Andy's laughter, she couldn't contain her own anymore. The laughs escaped her as the boys each let go of her arms. Rusty yelled at them, his hands still shaking. Ricky was silent, glaring between her and Andy.

Sharon stood and walked around the couch to stand next to Andy, her arms folded across her chest. "Next time, if were either of you, I would think twice before messing with your mother."

The boys watched her, still in shock. Sharon gestured to the popcorn that had been thrown to the ground in the process of her revenge. "Clean that up."

With that, she turned on her heels and walked down the hall to her bedroom.

Andy laughed again before watching after Sharon. He hesitated for a moment, rather awkwardly, before following after Sharon, leaving the chainsaw in the doorway.

* * *

Ricky and Rusty were left gaping and shaking from the spots on the couch.

"Oh my _god_." Rusty said. "She…"

"That was so much…worse than what we did to her." Ricky looked at Rusty. "We have to really step up our game."

"Step up our game?!" Rusty practically yelled. "Did you see what she just did? There's no way I'm pranking her again!"

Ricky rolled his eyes. "Chicken."

"Really? You were practically in your mother's lap." Rusty laughed.

"Says the guy who was trying to hold her hand."

"Oh, shut up." Rusty said.

The two were quiet for a moment. The shaking had passed and their heart rates had settled back to normal. Ricky looked around at the popcorn scattered around the room. "We should probably clean this up."

"Yeah." Rusty stood, gathering up the little pieces of popcorn.

Ten minutes later, the living room was popcorn-free. They put the popcorn into the trashcan and then put the bowl in the dishwasher.

They shut the movie off, definitely not feeling like finishing the horror flick. They straightened up the living room, making sure the throw pillows were placed correctly and folding the blankets.

As they were finishing up the final touches, Ricky stopped to look at Rusty. "Wait, did Lieutenant Flynn follow mom to her room?"

Rusty looked down the hall at Sharon's closed bedroom door. "Yeah, and he's still in there."

The boys looked at each other, both coming to the same assumption and shuddering at the thought.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading this chapter! I've said it a million times now, but your support still blows me away and warms my heart. (:**


	4. Friday

**Brotherly Love**

 **AN** : Sorry this took so long! Skipping over Thursday- the boys decided to give their poor mother a rest for the holiday.

Thanks to Kaity for the help with this chapter!

* * *

 **Chapter Four  
Friday**

* * *

"Oh my _god_!" Emily laughed as she climbed out of the passenger's seat, grabbing her purse as Rusty retrieved her bag from the trunk.

Emily had texted Ricky the previous night, she was able to get off work and book a flight out to LA. She'd only be able to stay one night and it was the day after Thanksgiving instead of the actual holiday, but their mother would be excited just the same.

So, the boys told their mother they were going to pick up some discounted electronics at a Black Friday sale but went and picked up their sister instead.

"I can't believe you guys did that." Emily shook her head, looking at her younger brothers. "No wonder I'm her favorite."

The boys filled Emily in on the last couple days, telling her all about the rest of the pranks they'd pulled on their mother as they walked through the parking lot and inside the building. Once in the elevator, they told her about how their mother had gotten them back, making Emily laugh even harder than before. As they made their way down the hall and toward their mother's condo, they gossiped about the "friendship" their mother had with a certain lieutenant.

The smell coming from inside of the condo pulled them from their conversation, their stomachs rumble. The only thing better than Thanksgiving dinner was Thanksgiving leftovers. Sharon had spent the afternoon reheating the food and making more of whatever was needed in preparation for dinner- Andy was coming over.

Of course Ricky and Rusty had teased her about that, only resulting in Sharon rolling her eyes and threatening to take away their pumpkin pie privileges.

They walked inside, the boys first so that their mother wouldn't see Emily.

Rusty peered around and into the kitchen. Sharon and Andy were sitting at the kitchen table, each of them leaning in as if they were having the most interesting conversation in the world. Andy was like, really dressed up; he was wearing a tie and everything- just for leftovers. Sharon was dressed kind of nice too, wearing some dress pants he'd never seen before and a pretty, white button down shirt.

They were certainly more dressed up than he or Ricky & Emily. They wore jeans and t-shirts, Emily in yoga pants and a sweatshirt. Andy and Sharon were definitely dressing up for each other.

Gross.

"We're back." Rusty said, taking a couple more steps inside, followed by Ricky.

Sharon looked up, smiling at them. She looked between them, giving them a confused look. "Didn't you buy anything?"

Ricky shook his head.

"Couldn't find anything?" She asked.

Ricky and Rusty shared a look before Ricky shrugged. "Well, we did find something."

Sharon looked suspiciously between the two, knowing they were up to something, but before she could say anything, Ricky went on.

"It was this…weird…gross looking-"

"Oh my god!" Emily exclaimed, hitting Ricky's shoulder and stepping out so her mother could see her. "Ricky, shut up."

Sharon gasped loudly, smiling brightly as she pushed her chair back, rushing over to embrace her daughter. Emily laughed as her mother's arms surrounded her; she hugged her mother back just as tightly. "Hi, mom."

Sharon pulled back a little, her hands clasped in front of her. "I didn't think you were coming, honey."

"I was able to get off work and then somehow managed to get a flight out her." She smiled at her mother, who was practically vibrating with excitement, practically radiating with joy.

Sharon blinked back the tears in her eyes as she looked over her daughter, unable to stop smiling. "I haven't seen you in so long. Look at you!" She gushed. "Your hair is so much longer! And, have you been eating enough? You look like you've lost weight." Sharon ran her thumb along her daughter's cheekbone while Emily fought the urge to roll her eyes.

Ricky and Rusty had moved out of the way, leaning against the breakfast bar. "Emily's definitely her favorite." Ricky told Rusty and Andy, who was sitting at the table, within earshot of him. "She's never worried about me losing too much weight."

Rusty gave his brother a look. "Why would she?"

Andy couldn't help but laugh at that.

* * *

As everyone finished eating, Ricky went to the kitchen to get himself a drink, smiling at Rusty as he pulled the rubber band from his pocket without anyone noticing.

Rusty rolled his eyes. Of all the pranks they'd done over the last couple of days, this one was by far the most stupid. Rubber band around the sink's spray nozzle? Just to get Sharon's shirt a little damp? Weren't they above that?

Ricky didn't seem to think so, because while their mother was busy giving Andy some crazy heart eyes while he told them all some story about his daughter's new stepsons, he wrapped the rubber band around the nozzle a few times.

Ricky, Rusty, and Emily took their dishes to the kitchen, placing them into the sink. Sharon and Andy followed after, placing theirs in the sink as well.

Because they knew their mother oh so well and were 100% sure that Sharon would say- "I'm going to do a couple dishes before dessert"

They couldn't help their smiles when she did.

Andy offered to help, receiving a smile from their mother when he did. The couple stood in front of the sink, Sharon grabbing each of them sponge. The boys held their breath as she reached to turn on the faucet, receiving a confused look from Emily.

None of them, not even Ricky or Rusty were prepared for the amount of water that came spraying from the nozzle. Sharon and Andy each were so shocked that it took them a second for them both to reach for the faucet, fumbling over each other and prolonging the little shower.

By the time Sharon batted Andy's hands away and shut the water off, she and Andy were drenched. Her shirt was soaking wet and _see through_. Her hair was dripping, make up running, and her glasses were covered in water droplets. She looked over at Andy, who was already looking at her. His shirt was incredibly wet too, his tie dripping. Her eyes traveled down to the ground, almost groaning at the sight of the giant puddle they were standing in.

She could hear her children, even Emily, the little traitor, laughing behind them.

Slowly, she turned to face her son, giving them the best glare she could muster up.

Ricky and Rusty both stopped laughing, each going silent at the sight of their mother's glare. Unable to breathe, they just stared as she slowly stepped out of her shoes and then bent down to pick them up. Andy did the same and then followed her as she stepped out of the kitchen.

"Clean. This. Up." She told them, her voice dangerously quiet.

With that, she and Andy walked down the hall and disappeared into her room and the bathroom, leaving a trail of water as they went.

…

Emily sat at the kitchen table, watching her brothers mop up their mother's kitchen and laughing as she listened to them bicker.

She heard a door open and peered down the hallway, eyebrows raising as both Andy and her mother stepped out of the bedroom. Her mother was dressed in some jeans and a sweater, her hair pulled up. Andy was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a Dodgers t-shirt. The clothes fit him perfectly and wouldn't have fit Rusty or Ricky; which meant…he had clothes here.

She smiled a little to herself. They all knew. She didn't understand why her mother and Andy kept denying it. But, as long as they did, they were going to have to deal with the jokes that they all, especially her brothers, would make.

As they two made it back to the kitchen, they boys were finishing up. They chanced a glance at their mother, surprised to see her smiling.

Rusty noticed the clothes only a second before Ricky did; the boys shared a look before Ricky looked back at them.

"So, Lieutenant Flynn, you have clothes here?" Rusty chuckled a little, only encouraging Ricky to go on. "What else do you keep here?"

Sharon rolled her eyes. "That's enough." She told them, pushing past both of them to get to the refrigerator. She pulled a pumpkin pie from inside, followed by a few plates from the cabinets.

She carried them over to the table, cutting the pie and giving a slice to Andy, then Emily, and then herself. She then closed up the pie, sitting it aside.

"Hey, we want pie!" Ricky practically whined.

Sharon shrugged. "Tell that to my clothes."

"Oh, come on." Rusty said.

Emily laughed at them as she took a bite of her pie.

"Yeah, come on, mom." Ricky said, reaching out to push at Emily's head, almost knocking her off the chair. "We brought you Emily. She's your favorite."

"That's true." Sharon smiled sweetly at her daughter. "She is my favorite."

Emily smiled back at her. "Just wait until Christmas, boys, when we team up, you guys won't stand a chance."

* * *

 **Thanks so much for sticking with this silly little story!**


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